Mixing Orange
by MuslimBarbie
Summary: Kira never really thought she would like the color orange. At least not until she discovered how nice of a color it could be when you mixed yellow with red. [KiraxRed, post Operation Overdrive]


**Title: **Yellow + Red Orange  
**Summary: **Kira never really thought she liked the color orange. But that was before she discovered how nice of a color it could be when you mixed yellow with red.**  
Genre: **Romance/Fluff  
**Rating: **K+  
**Coupling: **Kira/Red  
**Disclaimer: **If I owned it, it would be cannon.  
**A/N: This is post Operation Overdrive. **But all you have to know from it is that Kira gets her powers returned to her to help some other Rangers, I don't go into any further detail than that. From the moment I realized that Kira's powers would probably stay with her, I was attacked by plot bunnies. It was too cute to pass up. Special thanks to Chibi for Beta-ing and getting me a title/summary. You rock.

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_Dino Thunder! Power Up!_

Kira Ford smiled softly as the familiar suit appeared around her, quickly replacing her casual jeans and tank top. Her smile grew when she lifted her hands up to her face and saw the white-and-yellow material that covered them. She flexed her fingers, feeling the stiff fabric bend easily. It wasn't right for her to continue morphing, and she knew it. Her powers were only supposed to be a temporary thing; returned just long enough to give help to the new Ranger team and that's it. By all rights, she was done with this, retired, over the hill, setting up the permanent desk chair with yellow lemonade and plastic umbrella and cute waiter, natch.

But here she was, in her suit, breathing in deeply and happier than ever.

The first time had been an accident. During a late night, Kira had found herself unable to sleep and unable to write and unable to sing. Out of desperation, she had taken a long walk, and she had been so lost in thought that when she stumbled over the feeding pigeon, the indignant noise and fluttering feathers had startled her terribly. It had been pure instinct to reach for her morpher, and a shock to find herself in uniform.

So stunned had she been that she immediately de-morphed and fled home, her mind a blank blur. The next morning when she awoke she had convinced herself it was nothing more than a dream, because there was no way she could have her powers back, right? But curiosity was stronger than she was, and one night she had crept away under the cover of darkness and tried again.

It had been a little taste of heaven when her suit appeared for a second time. Even though she no longer had Ptera, and she did mourn for her faithful friend, she still had all of her other powers. She was once again a functioning Ranger even though she no longer had to fight with Mesogog or Elsa or any of the freaks they sent. She was a Ranger, wonderful and whole, without the stress or responsibilities that came with it.

She didn't tell her friends. None of them had any idea that she had been chosen to help out the new generation of Rangers, so how could she tell them that not only had she been fighting again, but that she possessed the powers they had lost? It would be too hard to look into their eyes and see the sense of loss that she herself was so familiar with. So Kira said nothing, and a little tiny rift grew between them.

And so when she ran into him one night while she was in uniform, she had no idea what to do or say. She stared at his shocked face through the lightly tinted glass of her helmet, mouth open, but with no words forthcoming. Her body felt frozen in the spot, and it seemed he felt the same, for when he opened his mouth, nothing escaped. Had Kira not been at such a loss, she would have been deeply amused.

Finally, after several minutes of silence, a slow smile spread across his face and he beckoned her to follow him. A little confused, she obediently de-morphed and followed him through the winding streets. There was a comfortable silence between them, although Kira had expected it to be awkward and tension-filled. The slight smile on his face seemed to set her at ease. Even though she was nervous, she still felt strangely happy.

When they arrived at his house, he gestured in silence for her to take a seat on the couch. She did so without speaking and watched him climb the stairs to the second floor. Moments later, he returned clutching a small box in his hands. Kira looked at it quizzically, but he shook his head to forestall questions and motioned for her to follow him again.

This time, they walked for a long time, until the city had faded behind them and they were alone in the woods. Only then did he open the box to reveal the item inside. Her eyes grew wide as he tenderly placed it on his wrist. Within seconds, a Red Ranger was standing in front of her.

_I still have some of my old powers, too_. He had confessed, his voice soft as it filtered through her ear piece.

She wasn't sure how it had begun, but soon what she dubbed their "Ranger Runs" had become a weekly occurrence. Once every week, at the same time and place, they would meet and spend some time leaping and running and playing in their uniforms. It didn't matter how tired they were or how hectic their schedules got; they always made time for one another. It was their unspoken agreement.

On that night, at that time, this came first.

It was so strange and funny. Kira had never imagined falling for a Red, of all the colors. They tended to be so possessive, so over-protective, so suffering of the hero complex. They loved to be in control, in charge, to be the leader. A Red's idea of a good time was showing off how manly he could be through some idiotic sport. But _he_... he was different. So different. So...

Un-_Red_.

Whenever they were together, he didn't try to show off or protect her. He watched out for her, but he didn't look at her like she was a Pink. He didn't object when she took the lead in the games, nor did he try to pretend like he had just let her win when they raced (even though she sometimes suspected that he had).

_I've changed since then_. He laughed when she first questioned him about it. _I'm not the same as when I was first a Red. I promise_.

A twig snapped behind her, and Kira's head snapped up. She spun around, dropping into a fighting stance as she moved. Her guard dropped and she rolled her eyes when she saw the Ranger in front of her. A smirk twisted her lips.

"You're late," she chided.

He chuckled and her heart leapt. "What are you going to do about it?" he teased.

Kira lifted her hands to her head, pulling off the yellow helmet. Her chestnut hair tumbled around her shoulders, gently framing her face in soft curls. The smirk still present, she approached him swiftly and removed his helmet as well, allowing it to drop onto the ground. Her hazel eyes sparkled with mischief as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing their bodies together. His chocolate eyes had widened slightly.

Tilting her head in a seductive manner that she knew made her look very cute and very innocent, she stood up on tip-toe to brush her lips against his cheek. She kissed her way up his skin, curling her fingers into the shoulders of his suit, and oh-so-close-but-not-quite pressed her lips to his.

And then he was laying on the forest floor.

"That," Kira mocked, laughing as she pulled her helmet back on. She took off into the forest.

Within seconds, the sound of the leaves rustling chased her through the woods. A voice summoned her, accusing her of cheating, and a glance behind her showed the occasionally visible glimpse of red through the foliage. She laughed, her voice ringing through the trees up to the silvery moon high above.

"It's not my fault you're getting old and slow, Tommy!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Their relationship wasn't an ordinary one, and certainly not one that would be considered healthy. She was an up-and-coming rock star, the hottest and most popular young thing that anyone had seen in several years. He was a regular high school science teacher. She was at the beginning of the rest of her life. He was well into his life, settled and sure of what he wanted. In high school, she was the social reject. In high school, he was the guy the girls wanted and the other guys wanted to be.

And yet somehow, none of that mattered. When they were running through the woods together, all that mattered was the two of them. A Dino Ranger and a Zeo Ranger. Kira and Tommy.

Yellow and Red.

And when mixed together, they made Orange.

It was a nicer color than she had thought.

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**Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place  
You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces**

**We were spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes  
No room left to move in between you and I  
We forgot where we were and we lost track of time  
And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night**  
_Into The Night – Santana and Chad Kroeger_

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Note: Just in case you don't understand, Tommy never lost his Zeo powers. Once the Turbo powers were created, Zeo was never mentioned again until Forever Red, where Tommy still had the power to be Zeo Ranger V. I'm going on the assumption that he still has the power, but just never uses it because he has no reason. Anyway, this is my first TKira fic I've posted, though I've started a million over the past year and a half. Hopefully it won't be my last. 


End file.
